Dahl's Bloody Sixth
by loveofthegame117
Summary: The Vault Hunters are searching for the Lost Treasure of New Haven, but on the way they find something quite different.


Author's Note- So I was playing Borderlands 2 and came across this room while exploring the Caustic Caverns. Wasn't the first time I had seen it, but this was the first time I really _saw _it, if that makes sense (which it never does). This is a scene I instantly thought of when entering the room. I liked writing for these characters, enough so that I might continue doing it in the future. I would like to hear what you all have to say about these interpretations of them, so if you found them interesting or lacking, would love to hear that feedback! Enjoy the story!

The varkid screeched one last time before falling dead at Zero's feet, a large hole still smoking bored straight through its tail. The assassin searched for a new target, but the only creature not an eviscerated corpse was a thresher that Salvador was currently beating with his tattooed fists, laughing raucously and not so sanely.

After Salvador finished with a coup-de-grace to the worm-like creature's head, he shook off the gore from his hands and joined his fellow vault hunters. None spoke for a few minutes as they picked through and traded the loot dropped, comparing noteworthy finds amongst themselves. Most was mediocre, but Axton found a Dahl submachine gun to replace his own, and Gaige rolled aside half of a varkid wing to find an impressive Bandit pistol glowing with the telltale red lights of fire energy.

"So where do we go next?" Maya asked, wiping her hands off with a rag she always kept on hand. Out of the six, she was the least comfortable with the blood and carnage that dirtied their hands on a near daily basis. Her sheltered upbringing in the abbey had exposed her little to the carnage of Pandora, but she had adapted well. It was nothing compared to the kind of conditioning Gaige went through, who was a mere schoolgirl. Her first few days had been rough, but the other five had extended their support. Even Krieg had given support in his own twisted way- he would often put himself between her and the spray of gore, shielding her with his body. It surprised them all, but the youngest of their number held a soft spot in each of their hearts.

Axton consulted the vague clues of the makeshift map they had looted from four bandits from Lynchwood. They had interpreted three of the four hints that had led them to hidden levers on all corners of the Caustic Caverns. Under an acid-eroded railway, inside a varkid-infested warehouse, and just a few minutes ago Maya had spotted the faint green lights beneath the large mineral digger looming overhead; shortly after they had been attacked by a slew of varkids, threshers, and crystalisks before they could consider the final clue.

"Within Dahl's bloody sixth? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Axton growled as he scrolled through his ECHO device. All the vault hunters took their own look at the map and consulted the surroundings. There wasn't much to see- most of the area was covered by nests of the creatures that were native to the violent planet. Any kind of clue the walls could have given them were obscured by porous fibers.

After a full minute of scowling and thinking, Salvador called out to the team. They found him standing beside a door, almost perfectly hidden in a nook of the nests. Axton thumped him on the shoulder as he passed to look at the security on the door. "Way to think small, small man." Salvador let the comment pass without challenge. After the weeks spent in the company with his fellow treasure hunters he had learned to let most of their petty comments slide.

"A door to our goal/ a pointless dead end maybe/ how much time Axton?" Zero spoke with the same fluid haiku he commonly used was accented by a projected question mark from his visor as his head flicked from the commando to the former battlefield.

"Not much longer, longshanks. I'm familiar with Dahl hardware and this is even crappier than their usual stuff." True to his words, a loud _click_ emanated from the door lock. Axton raised his hands and turned to the team. "Eh? A gentleman delivers."

Maya rolled her eyes and pushed past him to the other side. Axton called over Gaige and Krieg who had engaged in their own conversation slightly away from the main group. By what he could see Gaige was showing one of her trinkets to the psycho. He didn't know what caused the two to connect so suddenly- in truth he felt a little uneasy about letting such an unstable, dangerous man near a damn _schoolgirl_- but in the past weeks nothing dramatic had occurred. As responded and began making their way towards the others he turned and entered the room behind Maya.

"Let's hope we find the last clue soon. I'm aching to see what the trea-"he cut himself off when he bumped into Maya standing frozen in her tracks. "Maya? Are you ok?" He looked to where she was looking and his stomach dropped. "Bloody sixth."

The room was covered in blood. It was staining the floors and walls, creating a complex, meaningless graffiti. The stench hit him a moment later- the sick, twisted odor that he had become too familiar with even before coming to Pandora. He spotted the remains of the bodies on the far side of the room. A mass of bones and some meat still clinging to the bleached carcasses heaped across form them, where the blood was thickest. Even with his ten years of experience in the military and time and Pandora he had to focus to keep his rations down.

Maya, who didn't have the experience, wasn't so lucky. She ran out the way they came and he heard her heaving outside the doorway. Salvador and Zero were asking her what was wrong, and when she gave no response they entered ready to find out for themselves. For a moment they were both silent as they took in the horrific scene.

"_Pobres cabrones._" Was all Salvador could say. The Gunzerker made a quick sign of prayer and respect for the lives lost.

"This is disgusting/ were these innocent people/ I don't understand." Zero took in the scene with deliberate turns of his head, his visor flashing first "WTF" before shifting to a display of a cross Axton had never seen before. He knew how revolting the scene was, but was surprised to see such reactions from a Pandora native and cold-blooded assassin. As his mind subconsciously went through his team's roster he thought to someone he definitely did not want seeing this. He turned towards the door but saw he was too late.

Both Gaige and Krieg stood in the doorway. Krieg's expression was hidden underneath his mask, but Axton wasn't concerned about him. The young Mechromancer's face displayed pure horror, which quickly contorted to brief fury, confusion, and finally despair. Her shoulders twitched as the first tear slid down her face; her young mind just couldn't adapt to a scene this gruesome.

Axton froze for a moment, not knowing what to do. He had encountered those with post-traumatic stress before, but this was different. This was a child, and not a trained soldier. He had no idea what to do or say, and judging by his colleagues' lack of reaction, neither did they.

As he thought of what to do, ironically it was Krieg who was the one who reacted first. He put a gentle hand on her shoulder, stilling it from the twitch it developed whenever Gaige was in a severe emotional state- they had all seen it before in combat or in their early days together when she was less used to the violence of Pandora. She didn't react at first, her mouth lightly over as she struggled to come to terms with the scene. But after another moment she broke. She didn't burst into tears or fly into a rage, but simply choked out a single sob and leaned into the psycho's one armed embrace.

All three looked on as the crazed maniac succeeded where they failed in comforting a young girl. Salvador's bearded face clearly showed pity, and although Zero's visor remained dark Axton read the slight drop of his shoulders. Axton turned back to the two, and saw Krieg's one shown eye staring back. It wasn't reflecting hate, insanity, or any of the usual expressions the man normally portrayed. Instead, Axton saw calm, sadness, remorse even. It was something that caught him off guard even more than the bloody room.

He allowed a few moments for Gaige to get ahold of herself, and then he carefully took her from Krieg's arm. He was thankful for what the psycho did, but it made him no less wary. If anything, it made him more so. The man gave her up readily, eye still acting out of character. The commando handed her off to Salvador, who led her out speaking what he assumed, was comforting words in Spanish. Once they had exited, he turned to Krieg. "Thanks for that." Krieg gave no response, but continued staring. "The lever is over there," Axton inclined his head towards the far wall, beside the pile of bodies. "Could you handle it? I'd do it myself, but…" he trailed off, leaving his meaning clear but statement unfinished.

The masked man nodded once. Axton nodded in reply and thanks, then left the room. The psycho was left alone, which was an interesting position for him. He was never truly alone. And now he heard that small voice in his head that he occasionally heard amidst the combat and carnage.

"It was good you helped that girl. It proves to me that we still have a chance." He walked slowly towards the lever, taking in the scene with his one eye. "The others still don't trust us, even after weeks together. They still only see the insane idiot that screams about meat bicycles while cleaving heads. But that girl believes in us; she sees something in us. If she can, it means that with time, the rest might."

He reached the lever, and pulled it. He stood for a second, right beside the bodies. He could see it- the screams for mercy, the sound of ripping flesh as the blows were dealt- so similar to what was done to him, and what he does in turn to the deserving. For one fraction of a second he remembered everything- all before this, all that was done to him, why he had this voice in his head- then it was over, and he stalked outside to the rest of his team.

All of them had recovered from the ordeal, even Maya and Gaige were up and ready to move. Axton saw Krieg emerge, and knew the final switch had been pulled. A sound reverberated throughout the caverns, and his ECHO device beeped. Upon checking it he saw a new location had been marked. He checked and saw all of them got the same update. As they all got up and started to move he heard a piercing screech and rip of flesh form behind, and saw a dead spiderant at his feet, its abdomen ripped apart. Krieg stood a little farther away, his buzz axe covered with the creature's blood and a familiar glint in his eye. He raised his weapon and cried out, attracting more spiderants.

"MORE FLESH FOR OUR MEAT BICYCLE!"


End file.
